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As has been demonstrated in the past, performance gains for Ivy Bridge's central processing unit (CPU) were much more modest.

The first Ivy Bridge mobile processors are due to be announced later this month. Typically, Intel announces quad-core mobile chips first. MacBook Pros and high-end Windows gaming laptops use mobile quad-core processors.

Needless to say, quad-core Ivy Bridge laptops will almost invariably come with "discrete" standalone graphics from Nvidia or Advanced Micro Devices. But today many systems are designed to use both Intel and discrete graphics -- so Intel GPU performance is not irrelevant, even in these brawny laptops. And Intel GPUs will be very relevant with thin laptop designs that use only Intel graphics.

Power-efficient dual-core Ivy Bridge chips that are expected to land in the MacBook Air and ultrabooks should appear later in the spring.

About the author

Brooke Crothers writes about mobile computer systems, including laptops, tablets, smartphones: how they define the computing experience and the hardware that makes them tick. He has served as an editor at large at CNET News and a contributing reporter to The New York Times' Bits and Technology sections. His interest in things small began when living in Tokyo in a very small apartment for a very long time.
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